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I have a civilized relationship with Arsene Wenger – Mourinho

Jose Mourinho insists he has a civilized relationship with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger despite claims the Manchester United manager once said he wanted to “break” the Frenchman’s face.

The duo clashed numerous times during the Portuguese’s two spells at the Chelsea helm, sometimes leading to acrimonious scenes on the touchlines.

Their relationship has come under fresh scrutiny in a new biography about Mourinho, which details alleged conversations with a football journalist.

One angry exchange surrounding Wenger reportedly ended with Mourinho saying: “I will find him one day outside a football pitch and I will break his face”.

Wenger refused to respond to the alleged comment ahead of Arsenal’s match with Chelsea, saying he was not in a “destructive mode, ever” and would not be reading the book.

Mourinho, too, gave the new biography short shrift when asked about it on the eve of United’s match with Leicester.

“I am happy, he (the book’s author) made his money,” he said. “That is fine. That is fine for me.”

Asked if it was correct that he once said he wanted to break Wenger’s face, Mourinho said: “No, I met Arsene Wenger a couple of weeks ago and like civilized people we shook hands, we sat on the same table.

“We have dinner together with other people, we exchanged ideas, we were speaking because we are civilized people.

“And again, I don’t think the book will be in the gallery of the Shakespeares and so on and I prefer just to don’t comment.

“It is my last word about it and again I repeat, he is making his money. That’s fine by me.”

When asked if he felt let down because the author says they were close, Mourinho added: “You can see how close he was.”